1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an application device for a screen protector and an application method thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a frame-like device which is integrated with a screen protector and by which the screen protector can be applied with precision.
2. Description of Related Art
It is now common practice to apply a protective plastic film to the display screen of a newly bought mobile phone, laptop computer, tablet computer, or the like. This kind of films, generally known as screen protectors, are transparent thin plastic films capable of protecting screens from damage by an external object without interfering with the display of contents on the screens.
While the advantages of screen protectors ell known, the operation of are applying such films can be a nightmare to many. This is simply because one who has little experience in film application must find it difficult to apply a thin film to the intended position on a screen, not to mention leaving no air bubbles in between the film and the screen after the application.
To enable an amateur to achieve professional film application results, a number of auxiliary tools were developed for the application of screen protectors, some examples of which tools are briefly described below.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,369,072 discloses a screen protector applicator including a cradle and a screen protector placed on the bottom surface of the cradle. Both the cradle and the screen protector are dimensioned and configured to conform to the portable electronic device to which the screen protector is to be applied. By placing the portable electronic device into the cradle, the screen protector is applied to the intended application surface of the portable electronic device. According to the design of U.S. Pat. No. 8,369,072, the screen protector is adhesively attached to the bottom surface of the cradle via a double-sided adhesive tape, and because of that, the following two scenarios may take place during the application process. In the first scenario, the screen protector, even though applied to the application surface of the electronic device with success, is peeled off, or displaced with respect to, the application surface when the electronic device is removed from the cradle. This tends to happen if the double-sided adhesive tape is too tacky, given the fact that the separation between the screen protector and the cradle is a separation between two surfaces. Should the screen protector be displaced, air bubbles may be formed as a result. In the second scenario, the screen protector is separated from the cradle prematurely by a downward pulling force applied to peel off the release film of the screen protector from below, and the second scenario tends to happen if the double-sided adhesive tape is not tacky enough. Therefore, the release film in U.S. Pat. No. 8,369,072 must be carefully peeled off upward to prevent the release film from separation from the cradle, but peeling off the release film upward will expose the screen protector to dust or other sources of contamination.
US20130020020 A1 also discloses a tool for screen protector application and includes a jig composed of a top-layer element, a middle-layer element, and a bottom-layer element which can be separated from one another. An inner portion of the middle-layer element is cut away from the middle-layer element according to the shape of the panel cell phone to which the screen protector is to be applied. Thus, a receiving space is formed in the middle-layer element, and the inner portion cut away from the middle-layer element functions as the bottom-layer element. Moreover, an inner portion of the top-layer element is cut away from the top-layer element according to the shape of the screen protector, thereby forming a space in the top-layer element. To apply the screen protector with the jig, the following steps are performed: removing the bottom-layer element from the jig; inserting the predetermined application surface of the panel cell phone into the receiving space of the middle-layer element from below; inserting an adhesive side of the screen protector into the space of the top-layer element; attaching the adhesive side of the screen protector to the predetermined application surface of the panel cell phone; and removing the panel cell phone from the receiving space of the middle-layer element from below. US20130020020 is flawed in that the thin screen protector is subject to misalignment when being inserted into the receiving space of the top-layer element, and such misalignment will prevent the screen protector from being precisely placed at the intended position on the panel cell phone. Another shortcoming of US20130020020 is that the periphery of the screen protector may inadvertently adhere to the sidewall of the space in the top-layer element, causing air bubbles between the screen protector and the intended application surface of the panel cell phone.